Nixon: state will plug Joplin’s funding gap (AUDIO)

Governor Nixon assures the city of Joplin it won’t have to pick up additional costs of tornado debris cleanup when the federal government cuts its funding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has rejected Nixon’s request to extend its 90 percent funding for cleanup through the end of the month.

After Sunday FEMA will pay only 75 percent of the costs. Nixon says the state will fill the gap. Nixon earlier ordered $150 million set aside in the state budget to pay for tornado cleanup costs. If Nixon had not committed the state to making the additional payments, the city would have had to pick up ten percent of the costs. Nixon says Joplin can’t afford that cost because the tornado has devastated the city’s property tax base.

Both of Missouri’s senators and the congressman who represents Joplin say they’re disappointed the federal government will not extend its 90 percent tornado cleanup payments in Joplin. Senators McCaskill and Blunt, and southwest Missouri Congressman Billy Long say they’ll continue to work with Governor Nixon to support the people of Joplin, who already have “faced extremely difficult challenges” since the May 22nd tornado.